Expat vets and nurses march in Dogs against Brexit Wooferendum

Last Sunday’s ‘Wooferendum’ protest throws a spotlight on the post-Brexit plight of EU-qualified expat vets in the UK.

More than 50 per cent of qualified, experienced vets in the UK are expats, mostly from EU member states, and another 90 per cent of all those working in public health roles are under threat by Brexit. In addition, prices of animal health products are expected to increase and shortages of essential medications are likely. Worse still, a good number of EU-qualified vets as well as veterinary nurses working in the field of animal welfare research may lose their jobs.

According to recent surveys, more EU-trained veterinarians work full-time than do their UK-trained equivalents, and Britain’s National Office of Animal Health has stated a no-deal Brexit could affect the UK’s supply chain of up to 40 per cent of all animal health medications including antibiotics, vaccines and painkillers. Bearing all this in mind, it’s no surprise that last Sunday saw a Wooferendum protest march in London, culminating in a petition signed by dogs and their owners being handed in to Downing Street.

Around a thousand dogs of all shapes and sizes brought their owners to the anti-Brexit Wooferendum protest held in Central London, marching to Parliament Square before handing in the petition. Many had dressed up for the occasion, as had their owners, with one enterprising Schnauzer wearing a banner declaring ‘Brexit’s Barking Mad’. Special ‘pee stations’ were set up along the route, encouraging doggy marchers to urinate on images of infamous Brexiteers including Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson.

British bulldogs wore their Union Jack-emblazoned costumes with pride, accompanied by their owners along with actors, activists and EU flag-waving politicians. Former Labour government spokesperson Alastair Campbell, accompanied by his five-month old King Charles Spaniel, told reporters the campaign for a second referendum will use whatever works to get a ‘people’s vote’ on Brexit.

Huskies, corgis, beagles, mutts and a huge Leonberger all had their day along with their owners, wagging, woofing and generally making their doggy views known. The protest is a forerunner of a planned October 20 pro-referendum rally aimed mainly at human protestors, and many dogs are unhappy at the prospect of being left in kennels when their people go on holiday due to the loss of the EU pet passports scheme.